Nightmare
by NeoChick
Summary: Prequel to P3: Let us do what few can achieve and move back two years time where the story honestly starts and allow our minds to wander to what could have been or what might be. Shinjiro-Mitsuru-Akihiko centric
1. Time

Persona 3: Nightmare

Persona 3: Nightmare

_Time is a cruel thief to rob us of our former selves. _

_We lose as much to life as we do to death. _

_However time does not change us but unfolds us for all to see. _

_Perhaps the world that was sought to protect now returns to momentary peace but at a price. You may know how it ends but do you truly know where this shift of time first began?_

_Let us do what few can achieve and move back two years time where the story honestly starts and allow our minds to wander to what could have been or what might be._

_And thus it truly begins…_

* * *

_April 7__th__ 2007_

"Damn it Shinji wait up!" Akihiko jogged after the retreating form as fast as he could but found it nearly impossible to follow his friend's path due to the continuous flow of students pushing past him. Some how the seas seemed to part for Shinjiro no matter where he was but Akihiko would always get caught up in the masses.

"I'm not interested Aki." He firmly tossed over his shoulder before opening the front doors of the school, allowing the crowd to overflow into the front yard, the trees currently leafy green in spring glee.

"Ah come on, the boxing team could use another guy like you."

"I ain't the school club type." He stated bluntly without even sparing it a second thought. Akihiko unleashed a frustrated sigh but to be honest he hadn't been expecting much. He was surprised enough as it is that he'd stayed at school the whole day. "Let's go to the ramen shop, I'm starved."

"How can you eat that stuff all the time?" Shinjiro was about to retort when a girlish squeal erupted from behind causing Akihiko to visibly pale in horror. He turned and saw a small group of 4 or 5 girls scurrying towards the two with excited vigor. An amused look crossed Shinji's face, watching Akihiko wince in protest. Why did they always seem to find him wherever he went?

Shinjiro started laughing under his breath, waving off his friend. Only a sophomore and already the school's heartthrob. "Fine, stay here, I bet they'll keep you company." The girls' ears perked up and Akihiko's eyes widened as he left.

"Akihiko-kun!"

"There he is!"

"Traitor!" Akihiko stiffened considerable when he saw them starting to circle in, Shinjiro's chortle still within ear reach. Out of options, the boxer swallowed his pride and dashed after him. "Ah shut up and wait for me!"

* * *

"Two specials Amano-san." Shinjiro offered one of his rare half smiles for the cook as he sat down at the counter that wrapped around the kitchen, not bothering to see whether or not Akihiko would join him or want something else.

"Ah right away Shinjiro-kun." The boxer, taking his seat to his friend's right, arched a brow in mock confusion.

"'_Shinjiro-kun'_ huh?" He began laughing against his better judgment, Shinji merely rolling his eyes and shrugging it off as he received his bowl of hot steaming ramen.

"Tch, he can call whatever ever the hell he wants, he gives me a discount." And with that he set out to devour his bowl. All Akihiko could do was shake his head and graciously take his own bowl from Amano-san's fragile hands. Truth be told, he really didn't like ramen all that much but it was one of the few places that Shinjiro ever went to with him. Shinjiro was like the brother he never had, although they weren't related by blood it didn't matter. So he'd sacrifice a little if it meant they could hang out.

"He only gives you a discount because he knows you'll just spend the money you save on more ramen." But Shinjiro didn't even spare him a glare as he continued consuming the noodles with pleasure. "Besides shouldn't you be saving your money? Dorm housing isn't cheap." A smirk developed on Shinji's lips as he took a moment to look up from his dish.

"That's what I have you for. You're treating me."

"What?!"

"Now eat." Before Akihiko could protest anymore, he went face first into the hot beef flavored liquid via the aid of Shinjiro's hand. He sputtered, trying to push himself up with the help of the counter but Shinji wasn't known for his monstrous strength for nothing. Feeling a little merciful, Shinjiro let go of Akihiko's sliver hair and returned to his food before it got cold.

Face dripping in the brown colored liquid, Akihiko could only glare at his childhood friend and unleash an aggravated sigh. "Damn it Shinji I could've drowned."

"A near death experience will do you some good…" He trailed off cautiously at the face he was greeted with and quickly understood his error. Rubbing his fore head he sighed and added quietly, "…ah sorry." It seemed as though the shop grew silent for that second as Akihiko turned back to his now spilt bowl somberly before allowing a sort of half smile to grace his lips.

"Nah it's alright." He responded rather distantly and shrugged it off as he usually did and looked up at the clock. It was almost nine, had it really been that long? He shifted uncomfortable on his seat as another thought came to mind. He needed to get home before it got too late. He pulled out his wallet and opened it to see how much he had in it. "We should go…it's getting late."

"You're not scared are you Aki?" He grinned as he pat his stomach in satisfaction.

"N-no…no of course not." He finished firmly. And then all was well again as he too shared in his smugness. "I was just worried about you." Shinjiro snorted as he pushed Akihiko off his chair. He then made a grab for his wallet and pulled out the last of Aki's cash, tossing it lazily on the counter. Amano-san had an uneasy smile on his face when he accepted the money hesitantly; glancing at the boxer sprawled on the floor.

"As I remember it, you were the one that was scared shitless." Akihiko got to his feet and brushed himself off before snatching his wallet back from Shinjiro. He knew however that he only got it because Shinji let him. Even though Akihiko was the boxer, Shinjiro bested him every time. That was actually part of the reason he joined the team in the first place. Secretly it was also why he wanted Shinji to join too, a chance to beat him in a fair fight.

"Whatever." The silver haired teen quickly made for the door, knowing that his brunette counterpart would be soon behind. They slid open with ease, revealing the dusted colours of the setting sun on the horizon. The stars were slowly emerging from the vast bluish black sea above and the street lights mirrored their appearance, washing over everything with an amber glow. However the only thing Akihiko thought about was getting home before that glow would gleam a different colour. "Come on we need to catch the 9:30 train if we want to get home on time."

"Yeah yeah, don't get your panties in a knot." Shinjiro stuffed his hands into the pockets of his black school pants and moved in step with Akihiko, his back slightly hunched out of bad habit. Maybe Shinji thought he was being overly cautious but it was only because he knew that Shinjiro wouldn't take the precautions necessary. Normally he liked to think he'd be the first to jump into action but if he let both of them become unconcerned with personal safety then… well he didn't want to think about it. Shinjiro was the only person he had left and he'd be damned if he let something happen to him.

* * *

The two walked in comfortable silence from the ramen shop, something more pressing on Akihiko's thoughts and Shinjiro merely understanding his friend's state of mind. It wasn't until they reached the station that either dared to make a sound.

"Hey, what's that burning smell?" Akihiko's eyes snapped over to Shinji in confusion only to see his patented smirk. He merely rolled his eyes in response but noticed that Shinji didn't brush it off like he normally would. "Seriously, what the hell has gotten into you Aki?" He didn't answer. Shinjiro didn't need him to. "Look moron I'm fine, will you stop looking like a beaten puppy." He rubbed his arm subconsciously as Akihiko grimaced lightly before swallowing his guilt and nodding reluctantly. The train pulled up at that point, a little late with the time verging on ten o'clock, and they boarded the nearly empty passenger car.

From what Akihiko could see, the car only had four other passengers. Two of them sat together near the front, a young couple composed of a business man with short cropped hair wrapping his arm protectively around his female counterpart; a blond with her hair swept up into a ponytail. The third that sat in the middle, an elderly woman with a small bundle of groceries securely held in her arms.

Finally in the far back was a girl roughly about their age, maybe a little older, with red hair seated with her legs crossed tightly over each other. She was wearing their familiar school uniform, telling him that he may know her but she was too far away for him to really see who it was. It didn't really matter though for they were merely a way for him to distract himself from yesterday's events that were digging more into his mind as he watched the clock tick.

"_What the fuck is that?"_

"_Shinji look out!"_

"_Shit, Aki get the hell out of here!"_

"_Where did all this blood come from?"_

"_You can't fight that thing Aki!"_

Would it happen again? Like it did yesterday or the night before or was that just a really vivid dream? As much as Akihiko wished for that to be true, he couldn't suppress this sinking feeling that it had really happened. After all whether or not Shinjiro admitted it directly, he had experienced it too yesterday for the first time. Perhaps that thought reassured him a little that he wasn't crazy.

A brilliant blinding pain suddenly burst from the back of his head as the train can to a sudden jolt, the momentum snapping Akihiko's head on the back of the metal railing of his seat.

"Shit!" Shinjiro grabbed the bar in front of him and braced the impact as best as he could. The train made another jerk and Shinji quickly snaked his arm around the elderly woman that fell forward before she cracked her head open. She muttered a strained word of gratitude and clung tightly to him and her bags.

"What the hell just happened!?" The couple at the front were huddled in there seats, the girl in tears and the suited man trying his best to comfort her while nursing a bleeding gash above her eye.

Akihiko was now on the floor in a daze, rubbing the back of his head in aggravation. He could vaguely hear hurried footsteps coming toward him, the pounding only powering the unbearable headache that was developing. "Are you alright?" Akihiko suddenly became aware of a cooling presence on his fore head, numbing the pain a little. Allowing his eyes to open, he was greeted with the face of who he thought to be the student from the back. "Is that better?" He nodded carefully and tried to focus his vision.

However he barely got a proper look at her before she quickly righted him in a seat and moved on down the train to the couple at the front. His head actually felt slightly better surprisingly but the pounding was still there.

"…Aki! Shit man, are you deaf?" Akihiko snapped out of his dazed state, surprised to hear a concerned tone leaking into Shinji's voice. The little old woman was out of Shinji's arms now and pouring out of the train with the other passengers to investigate.

"…shut up…too loud…head's still…spinning," was all he could manage, pulling himself up with the aid of the seat railing. He looked around as he tried to stable himself and saw that they were the only two left. "Where'd the girl go?" Shinjiro sighed and chuckled lightly in response.

"You're almost unconscious and you're worried about some chick." That resulted in a dirty look that confirmed that he would be alright. "You can walk?" It was more of a statement then a question.

"Stupid question." There was no way he would let Shinji carry him out. "Let's find out what's going on." Pushing off the rail he stumbled once before managing to force himself to walk towards the exit. Shinjiro followed silently behind, hands in pockets, as though nothing had happened at all.

* * *

Outside was an odd sight, the full moon looming menacingly over top of the tracks in its hazy glow. The train had come to a halt on the track and appeared to be dented in at the bottom, the conductor inspecting it curiously with the student close by his side. The weird part was that there wasn't anything else on the track that could have caused the dent from what Akihiko could see.

"Call a cab Takuto-kun, I just want to go home." The young woman cried to her boyfriend pleadingly, to which he swiftly nodded and pulled out his cell phone. The old woman joined the pair offering to help pay for the fare if they shared to which they agreed readily. "What about you guys? Need me to call you a cab?"

Shinjiro looked over at Akihiko questionably. The boxer waved them off quickly, standing as steady as he could. "No thanks…but the girl might…" he trailed off as he looked towards the front of the train only to find that she had disappeared. Where did she go?

"The girl?"

He quickly shook his head a little puzzled. "Ah nothing, go on, we live near here anyways." The man turned towards the other two women after that but not before he caught a glance at the flash numbers of 11:50 PM across the screen of the cover. He immediately tried to cover up the panicked look he knew would show on his face, sure that Shinji would only mock him for it.

"You want to go find her?" It was as if he had read his mind but it really was of no surprise to him, Shinjiro could always read him like a book. He also seemed to realize that any form of intervention would be useless, to which Akihiko was grateful. "How annoying, whatever let's go."

Determined to make sure that nothing had happened to her, Akihiko took point and moved to the head of the train where the conductor still stood baffled at the sight of the stationary vehicle. He looked up as the two came and scratched the back of his head guiltily with a shrug. "Sorry about the delay, seems like something's ran into the train…strangest thing I've ever seen. But it went and disappeared before I could get a good look at it."

"Ah…Sir-"

"Garaki is fine."

"Right, Garaki-san. Do you know where that young woman that was on the train went?"

"Young woman…" He paused for a moment before he seemed to understand what Akihiko wanted. "Ah yes! The high school student, she was here a couple of minutes ago. Funny woman, she looked rather interested in the dent and asked me a lot of weird questions about what I thought I saw. She went further down the track after that." He pointed his thumb over his should down the tunnel that the train had stopped in front of. "Told her not to but she didn't seem to listen. I hope she's alright, streets aren't safe at this time of night."

"Ah…thanks-"

Suddenly the darkness shattered and the world was painted in a green wash that would cause any sane individual to revolt at the sight of it. The conductor that had stood before them only seconds earlier was now replaced with large coffin, copper liquid oozing down the sides. Akihiko's breath caught in his throat, the air now unusually thin. It was happening again.

"Fuck…what now?" He could only gape at how well Shinjiro accepted and adjusted to the situation however he was thankful for his presence. He'd probably fall apart truthfully if he was stuck in this odd suspended period of time alone.

"I dunno… she's probably inside…one of those…coffins now." Akihiko realized how odd the sentence sounded as he spoke and was barely able to say the words due to how utterly absurd they were. Lifting his foot, he watched the bloody water drip down off his shoe in a grotesque image and clenched his fist until his knuckles turned white.

Shinjiro of course noticed this right away and sighed. "Let's go home Aki. _They_ don't attack the ones in-"

A vibrant flash of light burst from further down the tunnel, cutting off anything Shinjiro might have said. Both teens turned in time to catch a brief image of a large black creature charging towards them with unbelievable speed. Both looked at each other with widened eyes as a blood curling screech filled the night.

"Shit! Run like hell." He didn't need to be told twice. Allowing adrenaline to over take any fear he may have had, Akihiko pumped his well-toned legs towards the passengers he had just left and turned to the edge of the tracks. Luckily for them they were over top of a grass hill that leads down to the city. Jumping the railing, Shinjiro took the lead down the hill increasing his pace as the monster, the only word Akihiko found appropriate to use in order to describe it, powered over the tracks in pursuit.

"Do you -_puff-_ think it's a -_puff-_ good idea to -_puff-_ go toward the town?!" He could barely manage the words as his momentum pulled him forward, nearly toppling him over.

"You got a -_puff-_ better idea?!" Shinjiro merely left it at that and the two descended as quickly as they could almost sliding down the hill side, dirt kicking up behind them with the creature in tow. Luckily they had had practice the last night at out running… whatever these _things_ were. Unfortunately their luck ran short when the beast bellowed a frightening cry, shaking the ground from beneath their feet. Akihiko fell forward, crashing miserably into Shinjiro and both ended up rolling down the hill at an alarming rate, digging at the earth in a last desperate attempt.

The pair crashed into the fence at the bottom of the hill splintering the wood upon impact. "Argh…" Akihiko was beginning to regret getting up this morning, another bump forming on the back of his head. He looked up and got a better look at the monster, it seemed to be moving thanks to the wheels that were attached to its torso. It also had two gruesome looking spikes coated in blood where its arms should have been. The thing that he remembered the most though was the bright yellow mask that sat in place of what would have been its face. Almost in a daze he barely registered the fact that Shinjiro was now pulling on his arm violently, trying to drag him away when he didn't respond.

"Aki, get the hell up!"

"I know!" Akihiko sprung to his feet and dashed down the street, passing a numerous amount of coffins that lined the sidewalks. "Shinji! You go left, I'll go right…we can try to lose it."

"Got it." Unfortunately this plan had little time to be executed for the creature had seemed to suspect it, like it was human or something, and increased its speed dramatically. Akihiko barely yelled out a warning before it rammed its large body into them, sending them flying into a store front window. Saying it was like a ton of bricks had hit them would be an understatement. Shinjiro swore he'd heard something crack and it wasn't the glass that was lying beneath his battered body.

Breathing heavily, they clumsily moved behind one of the aisles in the little convenience store, carefully avoiding the single coffin that stood in the middle of it. "What are we going to do?" Akihiko whispered fiercely in hopes to not alert the thing as to whether or not they were still alive. However Shinjiro barely got a word out when a loud crash echoed in the streets and the creature stopped whatever it was trying to do.

"Penthesilea, Go forth!" The command was followed by what sounded like a gun shot and a loud roar erupting from the creature in pain. Akihiko peered around the corner of the shelf and watched the beast (it looked as though it was covered in frost) rotate its torso away from the store towards the bodiless voice. Who was Penthesilea?

"Aki, isn't that the girl from the train?"

"What?" Akihiko snapped his head towards the direction that Shinjiro was pointing to wide eyed. Crimson hair and a high school uniform, damn it was her! She was still pretty far away but he was sure of it. The duo carefully crawled towards the hole in the wall in order to get a better look.

"Wait, that's Kirijo." Shinjiro whispered bluntly.

"What you know her?"

"You do too idiot. Kirijo Mitsuru, she's the student counsel treasurer. She's in our class." Akihiko paused for a moment before he nodded quickly in recollection. He barely ever saw her of course since all of their freshmen year she'd been part of the fencing club and the student council of course. Not to mention she was absent a lot from classes but still some how managed to obtain the top marks for every exam they took. "What does she think she's doing?"

Akihiko was wondering the same thing. She was just standing their in the middle of the street with what looked like a fencing sword and a pistol in each hand. The creature by this time had completely forgotten about them. "We've got to do something."

"How the hell do you suppose we do that?"

"Bufu!" Another gun shot vibrated through the air and the creature screeched. Anger consuming it, the beast charged at the young woman without warning and the only thing Kirijo could do was shift all her body weight to the left as she dove out of the things line of fire. Scrapping through by the skin of her teeth she rolled away and braced herself as she collided with one of the other buildings in the area, a groan of pain signaling that she was still conscious.

"Shit we can't just sit here!"

"Aki!"

But the platinum haired teen was already up right and moving as quickly as he could to help out his classmate despite not having the foggiest clue what he would do when he got there.

"Damn it, Aki stop trying to be a god damn hero all the time!" But when Shinjiro tried to follow, the motion caused him to hiss in pain. He had cracked something, figures.

* * *

The red head, who Akihiko now knew was Kirijo, used the wall the help pull herself up and positioned her body in such a way that she could use the wall as support for her back, gaining access to both of her hands. She raised the hand with the pistol up but much to his surprise, instead of aiming at the massive monster, she pointed it to her scalp. His eyes bulged in disbelief and willed his legs to move faster despite their screams in protest.

That was when she first realized he was there and hesitated in confusion and what looked like fear. "Sanada-san?" She wanted to warn him but wasn't given a chance. The boy, without any regard for proper edict, barreled mercilessly into her. The gun went flying and her sword dropped to the ground along with the sophomores.

"My evoker!" The creature crashed into the wall where they'd both just been standing, causing spider crack to crawl up the side of the concrete.

"You idiot! Why were you trying to kill yourself?" The woman looked at him with such contempt that he almost froze in fear.

"Unhand me or else we'll both be killed!" That's when Akihiko realized that he was laying on top of her protectively and for a moment forgot the dire situation they were in and blushed profusely then proceeded to move off her without a second thought. "Where's my evoker?!" Her desperate shout reawakened his senses and looked at her baffled. She didn't seem suicidal…

"Evoker? You mean that gun?"

"It's not a-" But she was cut off by a burst of glaring bright light that cut between them, forcing them to dive in opposite directions. "It's rather persistent."

"What the hell is that thing?!"

"We don't have time for that. Get out of here now!"

There was no way he was going to leave her all alone though to fight this thing, no matter how determined she sounded. What could she do that he couldn't? That's when he saw it. She grabbed her evoker that had flown a few feet away from them and ran towards the other side of the street in order to draw its attention away from the boxer. He watched her raise the 'evoker' to her temple and pulled the trigger, a gun shot sounded. To his surprise however, there was no bullet nor was she dead. But what happened then confused him even more then the fact that she was still breathing "What?"

"Penthesilea!" There was a brilliant flash of light which gave way to something even more unbelievable then the wheel-bearing beast. Standing twice as tall as any of them, a luminescent form of an Amazonian queen appeared before Kirijo, its body adorned with amour, lace and chains. Each of the illusion's hands sported a thin rapier like Kirijo, both polished and glimmering in the acid wash moonlight. "Bufu!"

Ice. The ghost unleashed a massive swarm of ice crystals at the beast, causing it to reel back momentarily. This gave Akihiko enough time to run to the side in order to get a better view of the fight. This girl had freaking magical powers! Although to be honest, nothing really surprised him anymore at that point. Hell the bloody floor and green sky was even being to become ordinary to him with there being so much of it.

The masked creature let out another cry and suddenly a bright yellow aura consumed it before a large burst of fire charred the ground around Kirijo. Her…summon began screeching like a banshee, mimicking the woman's pained movements. That's when she fell over, clutching her stomach in agony.

"Kirijo!"

"Stay back!" He was amazed at how strong she sounded, even when burnt badly, but he wasn't going anywhere. Akihiko approached her while the monster recovered from releasing his attack and looked her over quickly. Her forearms were burnt from raising them to protect herself but other then that she seemed to only be a little shaken up, which was to be expected all things considered. "What are you doing? Sanada-san you need to leave here immediately." Her tone fluctuated a little when she tried to get up but only managed to reach her knees when her body crumpled again.

"You can barely stand and you're telling me to run?"

"I'm the only one that can-" but she didn't finish her sentence when the monster finally recovered and came prepared to finish off the job. Desperately she looked around for her evoker, only to find that it had vanished in all the commotion. That's when another click drew their attention.

"Shinji?" When had he hobbled over here? Shinjiro was now standing in front of them with Kirijo's evoker held firmly against his forehead.

"Aragaki –san?! No, you shouldn't-"

"Shut up Kirijo, you're in no shape to move. Aki watch her."

"Wait Shinji what are you-"Akihiko was about to protest but that thought disappeared instantly when Shinji pulled the trigger, his eyes open and looking the monster dead in the face. Kirijo let out a gasp of surprise at the gun shot and pushed herself away from her classmate to get a closer look to confirm. A frightful whinnying noise filled the stagnant air.

"A persona?"

"A what?" But his question went unanswered. How had Shinji…suddenly the wind picked up, sending Kirijo's red lock flying in the air and Akihiko's hands to her shoulders. The thing that had come from his best friend was different then the one that she had called upon when she used that…evoker was it? His was riding a black horse and had a large sword piercing through its chest. Truthfully, the only thing that was preventing him from vomiting was the tight grip he had on Kirijo's shoulders.

Shinjiro cried out in fury but also seemed to be struggling to maintain his hold on the 'persona' for it kept flickering wildly. With a final shout, the ghostly rider charged at the beast and trampled it with deadly force. The thing disappeared into a black tar like substance, oozing into the copper liquid that painted the sidewalk.

All was silent for that next minute except for their hoarse gasps for air. Slowly Shinjiro turned towards them and Akihiko was at a lost. "Shinji…"

"What's with…that look…" Shinjiro toppled over at that moment, completely blacking out. The last thing he heard was Akihiko's worried shouts and the sound of a phone being dialed.

* * *

AN: I thus concludes chapter 1! Anyway I just wanted to clear a few things up. First of all the reason that they are all sophomores and not middle schoolers is because A) I based my timeline on what Akihiko said it the journey (I got my powers 2 and a half years ago) Since he said this in november that would put the start of his power development 2 years ago from the month that the game begins. B) I haven't actually got that far in the answer yet but supposely their is a scene of Mitsuru recruiting Akihiko. Since I haven't seen it and I started writing this after the November events in the game I decided to simply ignore whatever may have happened in the Answer.

Also I know the characters may or may not seem a little off but I wanted to take into the fact that they haven't had their personalites 'change' yet since they weren't a team yet. I imagine Mitsuru was alot more formal before she met them and Akihiko a little less mature and Shinjiro a little more friendly (but only a little)

Anyway read and review!


	2. Regret

Persona 3: Nightmare

Persona 3: Nightmare

"_When one door closes another door opens; but we so often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door, that we do not see the ones which open for us." –Alexander Graham Bell_

* * *

_April 8__th__, 2007 _

Clutching tightly to the armrest of the hospital bedside chair, Akihiko surveyed the area with careful eyes before resting them on the patient, now shirtless and sporting bandages around his mid section. Knuckles white and tense, it took all of his will power not to get up and start shaking Shinjiro, desperately wishing him to wake up.

"Idiot…" He bit his lip as soon as he said it and out of aggression, kicked the bed ruthlessly. It was a stupid thing to do; he knew that and now regretted it but didn't dare to nurse his stinging foot out of defiance.

He wasn't even completely sure how any of this had actually happened…well that wasn't true. Shinji had…

* * *

"_Shinji…"_

"_What's with…that look…" The next thing Akihiko knew, Shinjiro had hit the ground like a ton of bricks and it was all he could muster to keep his panic under control._

"_Shinji!" His grip on Kirijo laxed and she seemed to understand immediately what was about to happen for she swiftly turned around and clasped her classmates forearms as hard as she could._

"_Sanada-san!"_

"_Let go of me." A terrifying growl followed which almost made her comply but she didn't back down or look away._

"_Sanada-san, you need to calm down."_

"_Calm down?! Like hell!" He ripped his arms out of her hands and pushed pass her a little harder then he intended. Kirijo luckily braced herself before she hit the ground. Akihiko didn't stop to help her up though, instead hurrying over to his fallen comrade. "Shinji!" But he didn't say anything and Akihiko felt such anguish in that moment he was physically shaking. "Damn it…"_

"…_perhaps we should-"_

"_Shut up." He whispered harshly without looking at her. She bit her lip but managed to move towards his side cautiously. However it did little to help his temper. "This is all your fault! He used your stupid 'evoker' thing and now-" He was livid, but not really at her despite his words._

_**SMACK**_

"_Control yourself." Akihiko put a hand to his cheek more in shock then anything else, it now throbbing. "Aragaki-san's only unconscious, he's still breathing." He took a second look but realized that she was right. He felt really stupid now. She on the other hand was now analyzing Shinjiro's torso with a grim expression, gently feeling his side._

"_What is it?"_

"_It's as I feared, it seems he has cracked a rib. I saw that he was holding it earlier." When had she seen that? Akihiko hadn't even noticed that._

_Suddenly green and red were consumed by black and the world was right again. The few bystanders on the street seemed to ignore the remnants of the mayhem around the area and just continued on their present courses as if nothing was wrong._

"… _I'll call an ambulance now." Her voice was a little too cold and calculating for Akihiko's taste but he didn't say anything but nod. With lightening speed, Kirijo pulled out her cell phone and dialed the number. "This is Kirijo Mitsuru…yes, I'm fine but…no actually it's someone…someone like me…please…"_

_Akihiko merely sat at Shinjiro's side still a little angry, dazed and thoroughly confused. He could barely hear the red head's distant prattle about his friend's condition to which he believed was the medic. He'd leave that to her, she seemed to know what she was doing._

_If he had only just…just what? He was useless, again as usual; there was nothing he could do to protect him or even Kirijo. "Shit." He whispered angrily._

_The ambulance came and loaded Shinjiro into the vehicle. The two sophomores were allowed to accompany him to the hospital despite not being family (though Akihiko claimed he was the only family he had)._

* * *

Somehow he had ended up in this hospital room alone with Shinji and he was in a state of disbelief. For the first time that week, he realized that he had actually seen everything that had occurred during that…time period and that the monsters had in fact been more then figments of his sub consciousness. Especially since he now knew that Kirijo saw them too and she was far from insane.

Speaking of which…he hadn't seen her since they'd arrived. Akihiko felt a little remorse now that he had snapped at her in the middle of the street. It hadn't been her fault at all he was just…weak. He squeezed his eyes shut and leaned over in his chair in order to regroup and figure out what he would do next. That's when the door had opened and light graceful foot steps had filled the empty void in the room. "I see you haven't left his side."

Akihiko swallowed dryly and looked up from Shinji. "What did they say?"

"Aragaki-san did crack a rib and had a mild concussion but he should make a swift recovery." He nodded, thankful that it wasn't anything too serious. It was odd to hear anyone address Shinji so formally now that he thought about it, Shinji would hate it. That brought a watery smile to his face but it wavered almost as quickly as it had come. "…I wish to apologize as well."

"What?"

"You were correct, it was my fault that…Aragaki-san ended up this way. It's my duty to fight those monsters and I let my injuries prevent me from protecting the both of you. I shouldn't have allowed you to get involved." She folded her arms and tilted her head to the side, adverting her gaze away from the pair, face guilt ridden. It was then that he noticed her forearms, bandaged tightly. That was when he remembered that she'd been burned, that she had been hurt too. That made him feel even worse. "I shouldn't have slapped you either. It was…uncalled for and out of line."

"No…I'm the one that should be sorry. I was angry and taking it out on you." He breathed deeply and stood up from his chair to better face her. "I needed that slap…thanks."

Kirijo offered a half smile although she didn't look thoroughly convinced like he had hoped. He sighed inwardly but thought of the other thing that laid heavy on his mind.

"Ummm…Kirijo now that we're out of that…whatever it was, maybe you could…" He trailed off at the hesitant expression that played with her eyes. "Or if not-"

"No, it's alright…only I'd rather wait for Aragaki-san to awaken before I do. I understand that you may have a lot of questions but I believe that that would be for the best."

"Ah…right." The room quieted for that brief moment before the female carefully chose her next words.

"Aragaki-san's free to stay here for the night, the hospital is owned by the Kirijo group so they are aware of his…special condition. There's school in the morning so I recommend you go home and sleep." Akihiko quickly declined, preferring to say at the hospital in case he woke up. "I thought as much, which is why I…" She retreated from the room for a moment before returning, dragging a large folded square, a pillow and blanket in her other hand. She truly smiled for the first time that night and rested the supplies at Akihiko's feet. Her grin took him completely by surprise and could have sworn for a second there that his heart had skipped a beat out of shock. "It's not much but I thought a cot might be a little more suitable then the chair."

"Ah…th-thank you." He had nearly stammered out the whole thing but quickly dismissed the notion and corrected it. She waved him off and bowed out of respect before approaching the door.

"I wish you pleasant dreams, Sanada-san."

"…right, same to you." He paused a little confused and decided to unfold the cot next to the hospital bed. However he had something he had to address before Kirijo left or else he may not get any rest tonight. "Kirijo…"

"Yes?"

"Does it happen every night?" She stopped but didn't turn around.

"…yes." And she continued on her path to where ever she may have been going. That didn't allow him to sleep like he thought it would.

* * *

_April __15__th__, 2007 _

From that point on, Akihiko took a conscious effort to make it to the boys' dorm before midnight in order to avoid a repeat of the events of that night. He still went to school, despite his desire not too with Shinji still unconscious, mainly because he knew that Kirijo expected him to and the thought of disappointing her after all that had happened didn't sit well with him. What if she decided not to explain anything to them at all if he made her angry or something? To be honest, he was pretty sure she wasn't like that but he didn't want to take any chances.

He had so many questions. What's a persona and how does it help you fight those monsters? What are those monsters? Why do they only come out after midnight…could he learn to fight them? That last one was the most important of all, he need Kirijo to tell him these things before he went insane!

The thing was though; he hadn't seen much of her at school even though he was now actually looking for her. Once he could have sworn he'd seen her pass in the hall but as soon as he tried to wave, she had disappeared into the masses. Akihiko had also discovered that she sat two seats behind him (Shinjiro sat one desk back from him to the right). During class however there was no time to talk and after class she didn't even stop to say hi. It was odd, almost as if the whole thing had been a dream.

So when Akihiko went home that day, he felt he was justified in his frustration when he slammed the door open to the messy flat that him and Shinji shared at the dorm. "You mind, I'm trying to sleep here."

"Shinji?" And there he was, stretched out on his bed as though he hadn't just come back from the hospital.

"Who else, now shut up and let me sleep. Hospital beds suck." Akihiko stifled a laugh and closed the door behind him, the frustration seeping away in the comforting thought that Shinjiro was back to normal.

"You've been asleep all week. Do something productive."

"Productive? Tch big word for such a little mind. You've been hanging out with Kirijo haven't you?"

"What?! Hey-" A pillow collided with the side of his head with astounding force, throwing Akihiko of kilter for a moment. The momentum of the attack caused him to fall back on his own bed. "So that's how you want to play it?" His eyes narrowed competitively and took hold of his own pillow and fired it his roommate as hard as he could. Shinjiro however caught it with no problem and stuck it under his head before curving his body away from the boxer without another word. "Oh come on."

"Aki just let me sleep."

"Whatever you lazy ass." Akihiko rolled his eyes and allowed a grateful smile to play with his lips. He would never let Shinjiro know how glad he was that he was alright. Carefully he trudged though the remains of their peculiar smelling clothes, most of which was surprisingly Akihiko's. Most would probably be surprised to know that Shinjiro was actually a neat freak…well he was much more orderly then him anyways. He also was a very good cook but he rarely did it for anyone other than himself. Which reminded him…"Fine I'll just go get some food and bring it back. Then we can…talk."

"Yeah yeah, you do that." It was more of a snarl then a response. He knew it wouldn't be pleasant but it had to be done. Sure being ignorant had its perks but after last night, Akihiko didn't think that they had that luxury any more.

"I mean it Shinji." There was no response but Akihiko knew it was just him trying to avoid the subject, typical. Not that he was much better honestly. Sighing, he barely caught the sudden murmurs that spilled in from under the door. What now?

"Woah, who's that?"

"Since when are girls allowed in the guys' dorm."

"They aren't!"

"Who's the lucky bastard?"

Wait…it couldn't be…half way to his door a knock sounded in the hall, at _their_ door. Akihiko opened it up to see the person he had in fact been dreading. What the hell was she doing _here_ of all places? Didn't she know what kind of reputation damaging rumors could sprout from this? The school year had only just started too!

Kirijo Mitsuru stood in her perfect posture at the door way, her arms crossed and a grin gracing her lips as though she were enjoying the terrified expression that was probably plastered all over his face. "Ah good evening Sanada-san, you've been expecting me I'm sure."

Akihiko sputtered for a moment, the intense whispers of his dorm neighbors already ingrained in his mind. "Ki-Kirijo, what…" He saw the stares and quickly stepped aside to let her in. "Oh, c-come in."

"Isn't that the new member of the boxing team?"

"Tch, why do the athletes get all the girls?" Akihiko slammed the door shut and narrowed his eyes, rounding towards Kirijo and Shinjiro in disbelief.

"What the hell are you doing here?" He tried to keep his voice low but it cracked mid way through the phase, ruining the intensity he was going for. Kirijo frowned, looking over at his roommate questionably.

"Perhaps my message didn't get passed on to Aragaki-san after all? I had had the hospital tell him I was coming." She looked around at the ground and raised a brow at the mess of clothes that he'd only been wading through moments ago. "Did I come at a bad time?" Shinjiro rolled over and barely glanced at her before closing his eyes and smirked.

"Oh yeah Aki, Kirijo's coming over tonight." The boxer could only gape, embarrassed at the fact that she'd seen their place like this and that Shinji had played another joke on him.

"You didn't tell him?" She looked a little confused but brushed it off without another thought and turned toward Akihiko with that same smile he'd been exposed to a week ago. However this time he was prepared for it and managed to steel himself to her charm. "My apologies, next time I'll be sure to deliver the message personally."

"…it's not your fault." He grumbled half heartedly, glaring at Shinjiro whose smirk grew wider with every passing second. Aki knew Shinji liked to watch him squirm so he had to try his best not to give him that satisfaction. "What is it that you want?"

Kirijo blinked twice. "I thought that was rather obvious." He frowned, his earlier frustration retaking its hold on his thoughts. So this was how it was going to be? One second she's ignoring him and the next she's making him feel awkward and stupid. Shinjiro sat up from the bed, rubbing his head in attempts to wake up.

"Aki, why don't you and princess here go get some food, I'll clean the sty."

"Princess? But you don't have to-"

"Don't flatter yourself, it's a mess and we need food." Now it was Kirijo's turn to be a little flustered but unlike Akihiko, she skillfully hid hers, biting her lip.

"Very well." She turned away from him and Akihiko saw from over her shoulder the reappearance of that same smug look that he'd now grown to hate. He was toying with him now!

'_That bastard is going to regret this…'_ Akihiko rubbed the space between his eyes and sighed. "Fine, whatever." He grabbed his wallet out of his back pack, pocketed it before heading for the door with the red head in tow.

* * *

"You've never been to Wild Duck Burger? Really?" Akihiko stared baffled at the woman before him, some how slowly over coming his first problem with girls, talking to them. Sure he'd spoken to her during…whatever it was but adrenaline had blocked any of his natural senses and after that he'd been too worried about Shinji's condition to consciously realize that Kirijo Mitsuru was still a girl and he was doomed to never understand her.

Despite popular belief at Gekkoukan High School, Akihiko was anything but a ladies man. His small following of fan girls rarely ever physically spoke to him, limiting themselves to merely ogling from a distance and calling his name in order to get him to look their way. Thus he was usually very clumsy with his words and stammered a lot, much to his chagrin. However he felt he could count himself lucky that Kirijo didn't seem to be like most the students at their school and found him adapting to his current situation much better then expected.

"Well, to be honest, my father doesn't approve much of fast food; his nutritionist plans a lot of my meals." Kirijo sighed and looked over at the large sign that was sporting the familiar large green duck grinning from ear to ear.

"You have a nutritionist?" One of his eyebrows hiked up but she merely crossed her arms. How rich was this girl? Now that he thought about it, the Kirijo group did sponsor a lot of different products and companies that he saw in Nihon so he supposed it would make sense.

"Yes well, it's rather important to keep as healthy as possible when you're as busy as him."

"That must be tough." She seemed to shift her weight uncomfortably, avoiding his gaze rather discreetly by looking at her watch. He took the hint and changed the subject. "Ah, well…maybe we should umm go somewhere else for you then. I don't have much but…"

"No that's quite alright…I believe it would be a good idea to try it, at least once." He nodded and allowed Kirijo to walk in first. The greasy smell that followed hit them rather quickly, and he realized that she hadn't been prepared for it. Kirijo's nose crinkled in disgust and her wrist shot up to cover it. He could only chuckle quietly as she looked around at the establishment in repulsive curiosity. "Does it always smell like this?"

"Pretty much, delicious isn't it?" It took her a moment to register the fact that he was being sarcastic and all he could do was bite his lip. Was this really the same girl that had almost single handedly taken on that beast a week ago? "You can wait outside if you want, I'll only be a minute." She seemed gratefully and with one curt nod she spun around and exited the place without another word. Akihiko approached the counter and began to order, unaware of how wide spread his grin painted his lips.

The great Kirijo Mitsuru has never had a fast food burger, imagine that.

* * *

"…but how do they make any money with such a low cost rate?" Akihiko slapped his forehead, having given up on trying to explain the inner workings of a fast food chain. They were now re-entering the boy's dorm with food supplies now bundled up in his arms and Kirijo expertly avoiding any of his questions that didn't pertain to the supply and demand needs of Wild Duck Burger.

Akihiko wiggled the bags in his hands, trying to balance them in one arm while reaching for his key in his pocket. He'd managed to catch it briefly with his index finger only for it to tumble out of his grasp onto the concrete. He muttered a few choice words under his breath and his classmate stopped her inquiry in time to note his difficulties. "Ah allow me." She bent at the knee and swooped down to grab the keys.

"Thanks…it's the copper one." She waved him off swiftly turned it in the lock with no trouble at all. Did everything come this easily to her? The door swung open and the pair made for the elevator. Kirijo automatically hit the 4th floor button without any prodding on his part either. Honestly Akihiko just wanted to get back to his room as soon as possible so that A) no one else would see them together and more importantly B) finally find out what the hell was happening to them.

"Hold the door!" Akihiko looked up rather startled when a third party dashed for the elevator and to his horror, Kirijo did in fact keep the lift from closing. The teen, also a sophomore from what he could remember smiled in gratitude up at her and adjusted his glasses. "Oh thanks, thought I'd miss it."

"Not a problem." Akihiko noted the forced smile that crossed her face, one he'd often seen her sport at school for show.

"Oh Kirijo-san! I almost didn't recognize you without your school uniform on." He looked over at him next and his eyes widened in remembrance. "Ah Sanada-san, I'm sorry I didn't see you there." Akihiko pretended not to care when the new addition's attention shifted back over to the red head in admiration. "I'm surprised to see you at the boys' dorm however. Visiting someone…if you don't mind me asking?"

"It's quite alright Hiraga-san; I was merely on my way to Sanada-san's room for some nourishment." She gestured over her shoulder at Akihiko with precise movement like she always did. _That idiot!_

"Oh…I-I didn't know it was like that." The doors of the elevator and Hiraga Keisuke bowed quickly and took his leave down the hall after a quick quirk of his eyebrow at Akihiko. "I'll see you at school."

"No it isn't what-" but the door closed and he fizzled out with an aggravated sigh. "Great, just great." He rubbed his eyes; he could tell a headache was already forming. She looked up at him with a questioning expression. "Look, your giving a lot of people the wrong idea here."

"Oh, is that all? Do you honestly care what people assume about you?"

"Of course I do!" Kirijo scoffed and crossed her arms as she turned to face him directly.

"And what is it that you're so afraid of them believing?" Akihiko paused. Was she serious?

"Th-that we're…you know..." He immediately regretted saying anything at the fierce glare he was given. It reminded him of the same one she'd given him that night a week ago.

"You can be such a child Sanada-san." She sighed and relaxed slightly but bluntly added, "You should not concern yourself with those that base their opinions on image alone. We are only acquaintances, nothing more. If people can't see that then they are blind."

For some reason, Akihiko felt a little dejected by that but chose not to say anything.

"Besides, you can't control what people believe."

"I know that."

"Then we agree?" It was more of a statement then anything else. There was little point in arguing any further, it was futile. She must be great in a political debate. The doors slid open and she pushed forward without so much as a second glance. He followed, defeated but not out, and tried his hardest to ignore a stray gaze of a classmate that was in the hall.

She was right, he knew that but it didn't make him feel any better.

Kirijo invited herself in without much thought and Akihiko dropped the food in front of him and slumped over on the floor at their poor excuse of a dinning table (ie: a flat sheet of wood that Shinji had found propped up with a pile of books for each leg…mostly consisting of his roommate's textbooks.)

"'Bout time... what took you so long?" Shinjiro… Akihiko glared menacingly at his so called friend, recalling that it had been his brilliant idea in the first place. Shinji grabbed on of the bags, opened it and dug out the burger from inside. "Down the hatch," and he ate the thing in ten seconds flat much to his companies disgust. He washed it down with his pop and unleashed a loud sigh in satisfaction.

Rolling his eyes, Akihiko grabbed his own burger and took a normal size bit out of it. He would have done more but stopped at the odd expression Kirijo wore. "What's wrong?"

"You eat it with your hands?" She seemed to bow low to examine the burger that sat unceremoniously in front of her.

"Yeah…wow you really haven't had one of these before."

"Hurry up and eat it or I will." Kirijo shot him a dirty look but looked back down at the thing. She paused for a moment and then hesitantly pushed the burger away from her towards Shinjiro.

"On second thought, you can eat it."

"Suit yourself." And he grabbed for it eagerly.

"Hey! She needs to eat too."

"It's fine Sanada-san. I'll eat when I get home." He looked at her for a moment and sighed in frustration.

"Whatever."

"Aki, if princess wants to pass up a free meal then let her." The change in the room was instant as it suddenly grew very quiet.

"What did you call me?"

Shinjiro shrugged. "Princess."

"I would appreciate it if you wouldn't invent nicknames for me." Akihiko could sense the impending doom feeling that built up in the room and chose to try and make himself as invisible as possible.

"Hey if the shoe fits…" Kirijo rose to her feet, Akihiko a little disappointed that she'd taken the bait. Kirijo Mitsuru and Aragaki Shinjiro…this won't end well.

"Aragaki-san, I believe you are being very inappropriate right now. You barely even know me-"

"And what are you going to do about it _Princess_?" Akihiko could tell that Kirijo was trying to maintain her composure. He felt a little sorry for her in that moment because he knew personally that no one ever bested Shinji in any fight of wills, whether it is physical or verbal.

"I will personally see to it that you are placed in intensive care." Oh was that a threat? The boxer's eyes widened in surprise at this new development.

"The way I remember it, you already did." Kirijo took a step back at that comment as Shinjiro's face darkened considerably. Akihiko started at that immediately.

"Hey that's a low blow, even for you Shinji."

"Not the way I see it." Kirijo's eyes lowered defeated and her arms crossed ruefully. "How I hear it, it's your job to fight those things. _You_ let yourself get hurt, put others in danger and let someone else clean up _your_ mess." Shinjiro got up from his seat on the floor and walked passed her and stopped. "I hate that, all talk and no game. Don't play if you can't win."

"Hey-"

"He's right." Akihiko was a little taken aback at that and looked between the two of them bewildered. "Aragaki-san, I fully deserved that…I'm not strong enough to fight them alone."

"Got that right."

"Shinji!"

"Aki just shut up for a sec." He clammed up at the serious tone that Shinjiro was using. The delinquent turned around and faced Kirijo in anticipation as if he knew exactly what she was going to say.

"I can't fight them alone. That's why I need your help." She steeled her look of determination and turned her attention at Akihiko. "Both of yours."

* * *

A/N: Thus concludes chapter 2. Sorry it took so long, I honestly don't have any set schedule but I'm hoping to have a chapter every two weeks (minimum anyway, I might write more never know). Anyway whatcha think?

I know this chapter is kinda filler-ish but it's still need to etablish some character aspects and plus leads to the beginning of an awesome team w00t! hehe I feel proud that I got to include Keisuke.

Questions: Does anyone know Shinjiro's and Akihiko's birthdays? I know Mitsuru's is May 8th but that's it. Thanks in advance for the info. Oh and if you can think of any other characters that are seniors in the game (hence going to school with the trio) feel free to list them. I plan cameos (including some of the main cast from the game but they won't have big roles.)


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